Jonas Lauener’s Intuitive Rift Explorer combines a robot and a head-mounted display, to create a mobile virtual reality system that’s worth a nod. The camera mount on the robot is wirelessly connected to an Oculus Rift display, so that when the person wearing the Rift tilts their head, the camera mount tilts, too.

The vision system uses two wide-angle cameras and a 3-axis gimbal mounted on a wheeled robot. Lauener’s software intentionally distorts the wide-angle camera images, to suit the Rift display.

To reduce the likelihood of motion sickness, Lauener designed the system to have low latency by using u-blox Bluetooth modules for communication between the Rift and robot.All the servos on the robot base and gimbal are controlled with a Pololu Mini Maestro 12-Channel board and a Logitech remote is used as an emergency stop, in case the wheeled robot ventures too close to stairs or other dangerous territory.

CHIP is ready to shine in his Power Pixel base. (Photo credit: Soldering Sunday.)

While there are many starter soldering kits on the market, most don’t integrate coding. What makes CHIP notable — aside for his adorable face — is the fact that he’s programmable.

Once you’ve finished soldering all of CHIPs parts, he can be plugged into an Arduino and programmed. Learn coding basics by making CHIP’s lights blink fast or slow, or fade them in and out. Create different blink patterns or make him into a nightlight that dims automatically after a few minutes.

CHIP can also work without an Arduino. Just build the included Power Pixel base and plug him in. You can use the two push buttons to switch the eyes on and off.

The small, computer controlled actuator adjusts the ankle using cables that work much like the break cables on a bike. (Photo credit: Michigan Technological University.)

Researchers at Michigan Technological University are working on a vision system for prosthetic legs. The system uses an inexpensive camera to get a better sense of the terrain, and an actuator that adjusts the ankle accordingly.

“The camera can identify the profile of the ground, while the computer knows where the next footstep will be, based on how the user is moving the leg,” says lead researcher and assistant mechanical engineering professor Mo Rastgaar. “Then the computer analyzes the information from the camera and applies the correct angle and stiffness to the ankle, just as you would with your biological foot and ankle.”

Cables similar to those used on a bike’s breaks are used to adjust the ankle, while the actuator is carried in a pocket or fanny pack.

“This new actuator system will be easy to remove, so you can use it or not, based on your needs,” Rastgaar says. “If the user is going to stay at home, it might be simpler to walk around the house with a passive prosthesis.”

The research is funded, in part, by a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation.

Paint a piano on a piece of paper and then play it, using the Bare Conductive Touch Board Inventors Kit. (Photo credit: Bare Conductive.)

Bare Conductive’s Touch Board Inventors Kit is ideal for both beginners and those who already have some experience with sensors and Arduinos. The touch board itself is very versatile, intended as a platform for a wide range of projects. Use it to turn just about anything conductive (including Bare Conductive’s paint) into a sensor, via the board’s 12 electrodes. Make a drum kit you never actually touch, or a functional painted piano!

There’s a brand new product on Kickstarter, designed to make it easy for anyone to create cellular-connected devices. A 2D/3D development kit, the Spark Electron is poised to bring machine-to-machine (M2M) communications to the masses.

At the moment, it’s difficult to develop M2M electronics at home because the market is set up big companies who already work with telcos and can navigate the industry. “If you want to get some M2M SIM cards, you’ve got to get on the phone with somebody. You need an account manager, you’ve got to sign a bunch of paperwork, and it’ll be months before you even see a price sheet,” reads the Spark Electron Kickstarter page. “M2M feels like it’s ripe for disruption; we want to make it a lot easier for people to create cellular-connected products.”

The Spark Electron works much like an Arduino, running a single program written in, for example, C/C++ or ARM assembly. The board features an ARM Cortex M3 microcontroller with 1MB Flash and 128K RAM, a cellular modem, NanoSIM card, and 36 pins (including 28 GPIOs, TX/RX, 2 GNDs, VIN, VBAT, WKP, 3V3, RST). The Electron is also backward compatible with all the other Spark shields.

The SIM card currently works in Canada, the US, and Europe using Spark.io’s own mobile network, which offers inexpensive data plans designed with M2M in mind. Just $2.99 per month will get you approximately 20,000 messages a month. That’s plenty for most M2M applications.

After a brachial plexus injury, this man opted to have the hand he could no longer operate removed and replaced in a new kind of bionic reconstruction. (Photo credit: The Lancet.)

Three Austrian men have undergone a new technique called bionic reconstruction, enabling them to use a robotic prosthetic hand controlled by their mind. The technique involves selective nerve and muscle transfers, as well as amputating the affected limb. The limb was then replacing with a prosthesis containing sensors that respond to electrical impulses in the patient’s muscles.

The new technique was developed by professor Oskar Aszmann, director of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Restoration of Extremity Function at the Medical University of Vienna, together with engineers from the University Medical Center Goettingen. “Existing surgical techniques for such injuries are crude and ineffective and result in poor hand function”, explains Aszmann. “The scientific advance here was that we were able to create and extract new neural signals via nerve transfers amplified by muscle transplantation. These signals were then decoded and translated into solid mechatronic hand function.”

All three patients each had brachial plexus avulsion, a condition which Aszmann describes as an “inner amputation” that makes it impossible to control the hand with the brain. Before amputation, the patients spent months doing cognitive training, first to activate the muscles, and then to use the electrical signals to control a virtual hand. Once they had mastered the virtual environment, they practiced using a hybrid hand—a prosthetic hand attached to a splint-like device fixed to their non-functioning hand. Video of the men completing exercises, shows how much they improved in simple skills, such as pickup up and placing small objects.

Three months after the accident, considerable gains had been made in daily living and the patients also reported a reduction in pain. For the first time since their accidents, all three men were able to accomplish various everyday tasks such as picking up a ball, pouring water from a jug, using a key, cutting food with a knife, or using two hands to undo buttons, according to research published recently in The Lancet.

“So far, bionic reconstruction has only been done in our center in Vienna. However, there are no technical or surgical limitations that would prevent this procedure from being done in centres with similar expertise and resources,” says Aszmann.

Researchers at the RIKEN-SRK Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research in Nagoya, Japan have developed a robotic nurse that looks like an adorable bear. The robot, called ROBEAR, can help nursing staff with the heavy work: lifting patients from beds and wheelchairs, and providing physical support to patients who need help to stand.

“We really hope that this robot will lead to advances in nursing care, relieving the burden on care-givers today,” said Toshiharu Mukai, leader of the Robot Sensor Systems Research Team. “We intend to continue with research toward more practical robots capable of providing powerful yet gentle care to elderly people.”

ROBEAR builds on the strengths of its predecessors — RIBA and RIBA II — which were also designed with a cute bear in mind. ROBEAR is approximately 200 pounds lighter than the RIBA II, but is still quite hefty, weighing in at 308 pounds. Researchers say that despite its imposing stature, the robot is designed with a gentle touch in mind. The actuators used in the robot feature a low gear ratio, which allows them to move with speed and precision. Rubber capacitance touch sensors on the robot also encourage softer movement, so that the robot can lift patients without causing injuries. ROBEAR also features a smaller base that the RIBA II, and instead maintains stability using extendable legs.

]]>http://www.botmag.com/a-robotic-nurse-with-a-bearish-grin/feed/0Engineering Slide Chart Card and Apphttp://www.botmag.com/engineering-slide-chart-app/
http://www.botmag.com/engineering-slide-chart-app/#commentsMon, 23 Feb 2015 16:41:53 +0000http://www.botmag.com/?p=7639Sick of sorting out measurements for screws, or the numbering system for alloy sheets? Great Innovations’ chart keeps the important numbers handy. The chart has a ton of info, including the tap, drill, and stress area for screws, c’bore sizes, bolt grades, prefixes, fractional drill sizes, pipe threads, beam deflections, and Allen key sizes for imperial screws. Mechanical designers, machinists, and those working in CAD will love having all that info at their fingertips.

A plastic, sliding version of the chart can be purchased online for $24.99. If you’re worried you might lose it, consider the app version, available via Google Play and iTunes for $19.99.

Venture into tight spaces and record video using this robot from SuperDroid. (Photo credit: SuperDroid Robotics.)

SuperDroid Robotics has a new low-profile, high-end robot on the market: an inspection bot with a video camera, that can be remotely controlled via an included tablet. At just 12 inches high, the tracked robot is designed to fit into spaces that are less than ideal for humans.

The aluminum base is custom welded, with IG42 right angle motors. I can move relatively quickly, too: 300 feet per minute. Tablet and robot communicate using a WiFi radio housed inside the robot — so there’s no need for a router.

The included camera is mounted on a custom 360 degree pan and 90 degree tilt system. The robot runs for 3 hours on a single charge of the 22.2V lithium-ion battery. (The charger is included in the kit.)

]]>http://www.botmag.com/superdroids-wi-fi-enclosed-inspection-robot/feed/0Soft Robotics Competitions Offer $10,000 in Prizeshttp://www.botmag.com/soft-robotics-competitions-offers-10000-in-prizes/
http://www.botmag.com/soft-robotics-competitions-offers-10000-in-prizes/#commentsSat, 21 Feb 2015 15:38:31 +0000http://www.botmag.com/?p=7631There’s still time to sign up your team for the 2015 Soft Robotics Competitions!

For the design competition, entrants are charged with creating a novel device using at least one of the tools available on Harvard’s Soft Robotics Toolkit Website. The entire robot doesn’t have to be soft — it can incorporate more traditional, rigid elements. But at least one component must be soft. Entrants must document their creations on a wiki, including information on the background, design, fabrication and testing. Winners will be announced July 16 and the first-place title comes with $3,000. Second and third place prizes will also be awarded.

A separate competition is intended to encourage and promote published research in soft robotics. Entrants can submit any soft robotics research paper that has been published or accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal or conference proceedings. Entrants must notify the Toolkit Team that they intend to submit a paper by May 15. The winner of the $5,000 prize will be announced July 15.